Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hey people. It's been Land of Talk central here at the blog lately. I'll bring it up one last time now: Read the story and my interview with the band's Lizzie Powell. Then go see them tonight at Slowdown.

Also this weekend at Slowdown is Little Brazil. Tomorrow night, the boys are back onstage again after a sort of (but not really) hiatus while Landon Hedges lived in California. He's back, so I assume you'll see a lot more of the band. I'm also hoping to hear a few new tunes when they play, as I'm told Hedges has been writing his brains out lately. Friday at 9 p.m. with the So-So Sailors and Honey & Darling. $6 at the door.

On Saturday, I'd go check out David Dondero. If you wonder where Conor Oberst gets it, you've found him. The singing, the cadence, the lyricism... it's all there. With Darren Hanlon at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Waiting Room. $8 in advance or $10 day of.

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This really has nothing to do with weekend shows, but if you're going to South By Southwest in March (yes, that's 6 months from now), your best (and cheapest) bet to buy a badge lasts through Friday. Head to their website to check it out.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I spoke to Lizzie Powell from Land of Talk last week and she had some good stories to tell, one of them about Saddle Creek Records.

See, Powell lost her voice in the middle of touring and had to cancel several dates. One of those shows was in Omaha, where she headed anyway to see the folks at Saddle Creek.

I'll let her tell the rest:

"When I did lose my voice, it was before the Omaha show. They invited me to the office and I was so worried that they were going to be so upset and we were going to have a big meeting about I don't know what.

"They brought out a giant cake with the artwork of 'Some Are Lakes,' but it said 'Some Are Cakes,' and they brought me a get well card.

"They're pretty rad as individualls. And their roster is incredible. They're beautiful as people, and they have wicked senses of humor, which is great to me."

You can catch Land of Talk on Thursday at Slowdown with Suuns and Conduits. Tickets are $10 at www.etix.com.

Monday, September 20, 2010

On Friday, I had a great conversation with Lizzie Powell, the leader of Canadian indie rock group Land of Talk. The band happens to be playing Slowdown on Thursday and just released "Cloak and Cipher" on Saddle Creek.

The fine folks at Saddle Creek provided me with two tickets for the show, which you can win by entering yet another Rock Candy Contest.

Head here and enter your information. We'll draw a winner Wednesday afternoon for the tickets. Also look for my interview with Lizzie on Thursday in the paper's GO magazine as well as on Omaha.com

Land of Talk plays Thursday at 9 p.m. at Slowdown with Suuns and Conduits. Tickets (if you don't win the contest pair) are $10 at the venue or etix.com.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

There are two big shows going on tonight: massively influential rock group The Pixies AND massively buzzed-about Titus Andronicus and Free Energy.

The Pixies are The Pixies. The indie rock you listen to (as well as Nirvana and just about everyone else) was influenced, formed and pushed by The Pixies. 7:30 p.m. show at the Orpheum. $35 to $56.

Titus and Free Energy, on the other hand, are relatively new. I saw them both at South By Southwest this year and they were two of my absolute favorite groups. Both were raucous and wild and I'd love to see them both again. 9 p.m. show at the Waiting Room. $10.

Unfortunately, I can't do both shows. Still haven't mastered that "two places at once" thing.

A couple weeks ago, I talked to Pixies drummer David Lovering. Cool dude, especially considering he had the roughest time of all when the band was broken up. And he's a magician, which is also cool, but in a really nerdy way.

Apologies for the absence. I've been in and out of the office all week due to sickness. First, I had the flu, but now that's developed into a wicked cough and cold. Gotta love this weather, right?

Anyway, I caught the Whipkey Three and Huey Lewis & the News last night. Matt Whipkey was playing as Matt Whipkey for awhile and then Whipkey-Zimmerman and now the Whipkey Three (which does not include Sarah Benck, as it once did).

Anyway, they had a really short set last night, but it was good stuff. They played a few new tunes that fit Whipkey's Americana Springsteen meets Craig Finn fun-times bar rock, but with much cooler shirts. I put Whipkey's album, "Instant Heart," on my best of 2009 list, so I'm looking forward to his next effort. He seems to have the songs (and now the band) in place to do so.

Huey Lewis was delightful. An admission: I'm a total nerd for the man and I loved every minute of it last night. The show started off with some soul covers from the band's upcoming album of Stax Records covers. Then they did some B-sides, two a capella tunes and finished off with the hits.

Lewis looks like he could be your buddy's dad - just a regular guy having a good time. Except he can sing and has a really good band.

I can tell you I totally geeked out when they played "I Want A New Drug" and "Power of Love." Little disappointed to not hear "Back In Time" or "If This Is It."

But the night was a total guilty pleasure delight.

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Good shows coming up this weekend:

• Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies play tonight at the Stir Live And Loud. 9 p.m./$5 at the door.

• Also tonight is apparently The Hole's last show (in it's current location). Tim McMahan has the story.

• Saturday is Jenny and Johnny at the Waiting Room. Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) and Jonathan Rice (singer/songwriter) put out a good album recently, called "I'm Having Fun Now." They talked to me about it as well as recording in Omaha and old stories about Lincoln.